Sheet stacker



Feb. 27, 1923.

s..l M. LANGSTON.

SHEET STACKER.

FILED APR.26. 1922.

2 SHEET -SHEE`F1.

AHORA/E75 Feb 27, 1923.,

2 SHEET SHEET 2 s. 1v1. LANGSTON.

SHEET STACKER FILED APR.26, 1922.

Ihn/Emol? WLM Armen/Ey of VVenonah, in-the county of 5.

' the machine for stacking` sheets having aperl Patented Feb. 27, 1923.

uniTran sTaTas 7 Tartan.

SAMUEL M. LANGsToN, or WENONAH, NEW JERSEY.

SHEET STACKERL .A Application filed April 26,v

To all whom it 'may concern l Be it known that I, SAMUEL M. LANGsToN, a citizen of the United States and resident Gloucester and State of New Jersey, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Sheet Stackers, of which the following is a specification. j 7

This invention is an improvement in sheetstacking mechanism of that type in which the separate sheets are delivered edge# wise in succession and each sheet is caused to slide over the previously delivered sheet to final position on the top of thel stack. the moving sheet being supported primari-ly by the stack during such sliding movement.

The main features of my invention adapt `tures, notches, transverse slots or slits, or other'form or outl-ine which may present .edge portions intermediate of the front and rear edges of the sheet, and extending substantially transver-sely of the' general direction of travel of the sheet on the top of the stack. Unless such a sheet be very stiff, an edge portion of the topsheet on the stack may curl or bend upwardly so as to form ,a stop or obstruction, or an edge portion of the advancingr sheet may curve, bend or drop downwardly in passing over an aperture or slot in the sheetbeneath.` lith theordinary stacking machine such an edge on either sheetmay engage with an edge of the other sheet and prevent Yfurther advance of the top sheet, or causel it to crumble up. or a portionto be folded over or underor inother Ways prevent proper stacking and vertical alignment of the' edges. 4

If the sheets be delivered at high speed and in rapid succession, the crumpling of one sheet may prevent the proper positioning or cause the tearing, folding'or injuring o't all the succeeding sheets until the machine is stopped, spoiled sheets removed, and the stack straightened out. The main object of my invention is to overcome such difiiculties and permit the rapid,v accurate and free slidl ing and stacking of sheets of the Icharacter referred to. Other objects are to provide improved means for delivering the separate sheets in succession to the stack and to imrove otherfeatures of the machine.

Although certain features of my improved stacking mechanism are adapted for use with sheets varying Widely as to material.

shape, size, stiffness, and other properties, 1

1922. Serial No. 556,736.

have designed and selected forillustration a machine for receiving and stacking fiber shingle strips of that type in which one of the longer edges of the strip is provided With a series of narrowv slots or recesses between adjacent tabs or projections. Such shingle strips are commonly formed of felt, paper,I asbestos or other similar material saturated or coated with a Waterproofing material'suchas tar, and coated on one side with sand, crushed slate or other mineral fire-resisting granular substance. The strips when'laid in overlapping relation on a roofl with the notched edges lovvermost and exposed, simulate a series of individual shingles. In my improved machine strips of this character are delivered endwi'se with the notches or re-v cesses along one of the side edges, and tabs or individual shingle portions of each strip pass freely over the notches or recesses ot the sheet beneath, even though the strip be very soft, and flexible at the time as a result of cutting up a freshly treated sheet Which is still hot from the waterproofing composition applied thereto. Certain features of the machine illustrated are not claimed herein, as they are the same as or similar vto Itorresponding features illustrated and claimed in a copending application of B. M. Fine, nSerial No. 508,082', filed Oct. 17, 1921. rlhe parts here shown are intended for use and cooperation With other parts not here shown, but which are fully disclosed in said application.

In thelaccompanying` drawings;

. Fig. 1 is a side elevation, certainkof the parts being shown in section, and the sheet delivering means adjacent to its lowermost positlon.

Fig. 2 isla sectional detail similar to a portion of Fig. l, but on a different plane, and showing the sheet delivering means in raised position. A

Fig. 3 is a sectional detail similar to a portion of Fig. 2.

l Fig .4 is a plan view of a sheet or plurality of sheets which may be stacked by mea-ns of my improved machine.

Fig. 5 is a plan view of a` stack support for sheets of the form shown in Fig. 4.

Fig. 6 is a perspective view of a portion of the sheet support and sheet thereon, and

Fig. 7 is a perspective View of a portion of the sheet support.

In the machine illustrated the sheets to series of narrow belts 10 extending over a pulley 11 which forms one of a pair of feed rolls, the upper roll 12'being' geared tothe lower one a's indicated in dotted lines in Fig. 2, Aso that the two rollers have the same spective ofthe height of the'stack, means areprovided for varying the relative eleva- Ition of the sheet delivering means and the stack support during the operation of the machine, and at the desired rate. As shown the sheet delivering means is mounted on a carriage 14 mounted for vertical movement on the frame: 15 of the machine. The car- -riage carries aftransversely extending shaft 16 having pinions 17 at opposite ends thereof meshing with stationary rackbar 18 on the frame of the machine so that tilting or irregular vertical movement of the opposite ends of the carriage is prevented. The carriage 4at its lower end isprovided with a roller'19 engaging with a cam 20 ona shaft 21. This cam is of such shape and size. and the shaft 21 is driven at such speed in respect to the rate of delivery of the sheets,

lthat the carriage raisesan'amount substantially equal to the thickness of the sheet in time intervals corresponding to thetime of delivery of the successive sheets, Thus the sheet delivering means maintains a constant relationship to the jtop of the stack. When the sheet delivering means reaches its maxi- .mum elevation and the stack has been built to the desired height, the delivery of sheets to this 'stacking mechanism may be interrupted while the stack is removed and the sheet delivering means lowered to begin the building up of a-new stack. For maintaining the belt 10 taut during the vertical movement'of the sheet delivering means, there is preferably provided a belt tightening pulley4 or series of pulleys 22 mounted on a lever arm 23 which is pivoted on a' rearward extension of the carriage. The opposite end of the lever arm is connected to the lower portion of the carriage by a Coil spring 24, the tension of which may be varied or 4adjusted at will. f As the spring is connected to the carriage, it will be noted that the belt tightener operates with equal efficiency irrespective of variation in the verticaljposition of the carriage. i

The feed roll or pulley '11 is preferably positively driven instead of Abeing rotated merely by the belt. The shaft of the roll is shown as provided with a miter gear 25 mounted in a casing on the carriage, and meshing with a second miter gear 26 jour- In order that the sheetnaled in the carriage and held against longitudinal movement in respectv there'to. For rotating the gear 26 I provide a vertical shaft 27 which is keyed to the gear 26 so that the latter may slide vertically on the shaft during the up and down movement of the carriage, butl power' will be properly transmitted to the feed roll in all positions of the carriage. The shaft 26 is illustrated as being driven from a shaft 28 through a pair of miter gears 29. The feed roll 27 is so mounted in respect to the feed roll 11 that the common line of tangency is inclined downwardly toward the stack support or the top of the stack.v In other words, the axis of the upper roll is laterally displaced in shown particularly in Fig. 2. Thus each sheet is directed downwardly against the top of the stack at a comparatively slight angle. and is caused to frictionally engage with or bear upon the top sheet of the stack' while moving to final. position.

The stack support 13 is preferably in the form o f a board or platform mounted on a series of rollers 30 having their axes extending in the direction of travel lof the sheets. Thus the stack support may be moved laterally with the entire stack thereon, andv a new stack support placed in position in` a comparatively,` short time. The rollers are journaled on a frame 31 which has an upwardly extending arm 32 carryingl a de-y pending stop 33 adjustablevtoward and from the sheet delivering means. This stop may beso positioned as to insure proper placing of the stack.A support 13, and to. limit the movement of thesheetsA and define `.their final position.` By reasonk of the slightly downward angle o f delivery ofthe'- sheets on to the stack, a sufficient frictionor resistance is oferedso that asthe sheets reach the stop edges against the stop.

fel-red to involve features of my invention,

the main feature of theconstruction is the stack support, and the. other features may vary widely in details. and varrangement of parts. In the construction illustrated the stack support is intended for usewith fiber shingle strips ofthe character shown in Fig.

4. Each strip includes a body portion A provided withl a series of recesses, notches or slots B in one edge thereof, so as to form tabs or projections C. These are of a width and length so that when the strips are laid in proper overlapping relationship with the tabs or projections shingles. My improved machine adapted for the stacking of exposed; at the lower i edge, they will create the appearance of in-.

kind where the strips are deprojections extend in a general direction substantially at right angles to the direction of delivery of the sheets or strips. Any desired number of these shingle strips may be formed simultaneously in the machine,

and deliverededge to edge at the same time, one such arrangement being that shown in Fig. 4, where each sheet or section of the roofing material includes three separate shingle strips cut and formed simultaneously from the prepared material. These strips are shown, as having the slots of two of the sheets opposed, so as to form the openings D, each of a length equal to twice the length of the slot in an individual shingle strip, and the third shingle strip has its slots terminatiner at-a straight edge of the middle strip. bviously a greater, or lesser number of strips may be simultaneously delivered, and the slots may be in various dif ferent relationships, so far as positioning is concerned. Also, the slots and tabs may be of other forms, and the machine may be used.

for stacking stripsotl material otherthan shingle strips, and which have the edges extending substantiall'v transversely of the general direction of'ldeliverymf the sheet, and which may abut to interfere with free sliding movement of the sheet.

For stacking the specific arrangement of shingle strips shown `in Fig. 4, I provide the support 13 with a series of cam projections 35, as shown in Fig. 5. Each projection has a substantially vertical' surface 86, so positioned as to register with a slot of the sheet, and of a length substantially equal to said slot. From this vertical surface the upper surface 37 -of the projection is inclined downwardly and merges into the upper surface of the'body portion of the stack support. The high point of the projection is so positioned that it comes'at theA far or outer corner of a corresponding tab or projection on the sheet, and the uppe-r surface from this high point is inclined downwardly both toward the body of the sheet and to.- ward the sheet delivery means; lf t-he projection or raised part ofthe stack support is for cooperating with a single tab or projection of the sheet, the projection may have' a vertical surface extending in the direction of delivery of the sheet and registering with a side edge of the sheet, as shown at the lower portion of Fig. 5. It' one projection or raised portion is to support oppositely facing tabs of two different sheets, this projection of the stack support may correspond in size and shape to two of the projections 35, as shown at 35a in Figs. 5, Gand 7. This form has itsl upper surface inclined downwardly in opposite directions from the center line, which registers with the dividing line between two sheets;

From Figs. 3` and 6 it will be noted tha each sheet when in final position has the 'extending tab or projection of the sheet,

with the exception of the one farthest from the sheet delivering means, has its far odge raised so that the next sheet in being telivered to the top ofthe stack, wili be guided across the slots in the top sheet ofthe stack without 'liability of catching on the edge of the slot. The projections of the stack support will raise the proper portions of the first sheet delivered, and this raising effect will be repeated up through the entire stack, as shown particularly in Fig. 2. As the sheet delivering means and the stack support are moved vertically relatively to each other, the sheet delivery means maintains constant relationship to the top of the stack, and the top sheet ofthe stack always has portions thereof raised in the same way as has the stack support itself. Thus, the sheets may be delivered at high speed and in rapid succession, and each sheet will have its' tabs guided across the slots in the preceding sheet without liability of catching, crumpling, tearing. or displacing.

Having thus described my invention, what I, I claim as new and desire to secure by .ing the portion at the near side lof the slot at higher elevation than the portionat the far side of the slot..

2. A machine for stacking slotted sheets, including means for delivering the sheets edgewise in succession in a direction at au angle to the general direction of the slot,

and a stack support having a. portion raisedabove the general plane of the support for registering with the portion of .each sheet at the side of the slot nearer to said delivery means when the sheet is in iinal position.

3. A machine for stacking slotted sheets, including means for delivering the sheets edgewise in succession in a direction at an angle to the general direction of th'e slot,

.a stack support having a projection for supporting the portion of each sheet at the side of the slot n'earer to saiddelivery means at a higher elevation than the portion'at the opposite side of the slot when the sheets are in final position.

4j. A machine for stacking shingle strips having a, series of spaced tabs or projections along one side edge, said machine including means for delivering the strips endwise in a' substantially horizontal direction in succession, each sheet being caused to slide over the upper surface of the last previously delivered sheet v0n the top of the stack, and a stack support having means for holding the edge of a tab or project-ion which is vfarthest fromthe delivery means at a higher elevation than ,the edge of the same tab or projection nearest to the delivery means.

A machine for stacking shingle strips i having a series of spaced tabs or projections along one edge thereof, said machine 1n'- cluding a sta k Support having a projection on the upper surface thereof for holding in upwardly tilting position a corner portion of certain of the tabs or projections of the shingle strip.

y6. .A machine for stacking slotted4 sheets,

including means for delivering' the sheetsedgewise in succession in a direction at an angle to the general direction of the slot, a stack support having a projection on the upper surface thereof, the edge of the pro jectionfarthest from the delivery means registering with the slot of the sheetywhen the latter is in final position, and the upper .surface of the projection between said edge and said delivery means being ,inclined up'- 'wardly from the surface of the support toV said edge.l .Y

,7. A stack support for shingle strips. having` a seriesof projections each of a vlength substantially equal: to the'length of the corresponding slots .in 'the shinglestrips and having asubstantially vei'tical face registering with the slot and an upperface inclined upwardly to'saidA vertical face at a comparav tively small angle.

v Y 8. yA machine for stacking a plurality of simultaneously delivered shingle strips each havingr laterally facing projections or tabs. said' machine including a sheet delivering means and a stack-support, said support having means for holding in an upwaidlv tilting position theI outer corners f farthest from the deliverv means o'f each of the shingle strip projections;

5).. A stack support for shingle strips including a supporting board or platform and a projection thereon, said projection having a substantially vertical edge for registering with the slot between adjacent tabs of the shingle stri p and a vertical edge for registering-with the side edge of the strip, the upper surface of the projection' between saidl .vertical edges being inclined downwardly and merging into the upper surface of the support.

l0. A stack support for shingle strips including a supporting board or platform and a projection thereon, said4 projection having a substantially vertical edge for registry with the Opposed slots of two adjacent shingle strips, said vertical surface being substantially triangular, and an upper surface inclined downwardly from said vertical edge and merging into the upper surface of the board or platform.

11. A machine for stacking slotted sheets, including means for delivering the sheets edgewise in succession in a direction at an angle to the general direction of the slot, a stack support having means for holding the portion at the inner side of the` slot at higher elevation than the portion at Athe far side of the slot, and means for varying the relative elevation of the sheet delivering means and said stack support to maintain substantially constant relationship 0f said delivery means and the top of the stack.

12. A machine for stacking slotted sheets, including means for delivering the sheets edgewise in succession in a direction at an angle to the general direction of the slot, and a stack support having means for holding lthe portion at the inner side of the slot at a'higher elevation than the portion at the far side of the slot, and means for'raising said sheet delivery means at a rate ycorresponding to the rate of` increase in the A ll. A machinefr stacking slotted sheets,

including' means'for deliveringthe sheets i edgewise in succession'v in ar directionl at an angle to the general 'direction' of theslot, a stack support, and means for varying the relative elevation' of the sheet delivering ymeans and saidstac-k support to lmaintain substantially lconstantrelationship of said delivery means andthe top of the stack. said sheet delivering means including a pair of rollers having their common line of tangency 'inclined downwardly toward said stack support.

Signed at New York in the county of New York and State of NewA York this 17th day of April, A. D. 1922.

SAMUEL M. LANGsToN. 

